HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen10 - swapping from SFF to LFF

[ngnear]

I've checked the cabling diagram and for 3 HDD cage/box in LFF config, you'd need 3 cabling kits.
You may refer https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00036357en_us&docLocale=en_US

[epiphanyplx]

Then why does it come with 2 cables?

Embedded SATA cable kit for 4-bay LFF configuration - Includes 4-LFF SAS 12 Gb/s 470 mm long (18.5 in) cable and 250 mm (9.8 in) long cable

[ngnear]

Checking the cabling guide, given the distance between different cages and the port, the customer can choose which size cable they want to attach to which port.
Hence two different sizes.
Please refer - https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00036357en_us&docLocale=en_US

[epiphanyplx]

Okay - so then like I said previously; I could buy 2 cable kits, receive 4 cables, use 3, have one extra?

[ngnear]

Sure. You will have a spare but the setup should work

[epiphanyplx]

I have everything setup and it seems to be working but when I add a SATA drive it blinks briefly and spins up but isn't recognized in iLO or in OS until after a reboot.
I have disks in AHCI mode. They should support hot plug, yes?

[BunnyPon]

I have a sneaking feeling that the S100 doesn't do hotplug.  As it's a SW RAID thing.

Specifically this: "S-class provides software RAID capabilities for use with Microsoft Windows operating systems." line suggests that it is not an intelligent controller without help.

(https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00026319en_us&docLocale=en_US)

I would be inclined to use your raid card in JBOD mode ^^;

[epiphanyplx]

So that's something I wasn't clear on - if I have drives plugged directly into the ports labeled SATA on mobo but have them set to AHCI in BIOS, doesn't this disable s100i?
If so what controller is responsible for the drives? Not even sure what to be googling

[BunnyPon]

It is way past time to be reading the manual for your toy. 

Best guess, this is windows only fake raid and the documentation suggests that too:

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docLocale=en_US&docId=a00026319en_us 

If you had a raid card for your SFF drives, use that for the LFF drives. 

Now, there MAY be a bios setting in the system to enable hot-plug for onboard. But the closest hardware I have that's not in production is a DL20 which I made the mistake of upgrading to ILO 3.xx (insert usual rant about redfish being crap and in complete disagreement with SNMP from the same device here)

I only see options for turning on "Smart Array SW RAID Support" (requires UEFI) If you aren't using windows, I strongly suspect you will not be getting any hot-plug joy from the onboard controller.

[epiphanyplx]

Yes, I have read through the manual but couldn't find a definitive answer. So even if I have it set to AHCI mode - as opposed to Smart Array SW RAID Support - it is using the S100i? I wasn't sure if it was using something more rudimentary at that point. But since SATA itself supports hot plug and the drive lights up when I plugged it in I thought there was a chance.

I don't want to use the RAID card I was using with my SFF drives because it maxes at 8 so I'd have to get an expander - also haven't looked into it if can be run as HBA/flashed into IT mode which is what unraid wants.

All good, it'll work without hotplug, just wanted to make sure that this was intended.